The Mystery Girl
by Cheyenne-Hime
Summary: Non-massacre. AU. Sakura Haruno was raised outside the village as a ninja by her parents. Upon waking up one day she finds Itachi Uchiha leaning over her in the forest. Her kekkei genkai shocks him, and intertwines their lives in a way neither expected.


Chapter 1: The Meeting

She had spent years hiding her chakra, taught from infancy to regulate it so that it would seem as if there was nothing there, as if she didn't even exist at all. Learning to conceal it to the point where ninja would only sense her as the grass they walked on. Of course if she let anyone close enough to see her, then hiding her chakra would have been for nothing.

Her parents had taught her how to restrain it as well as how to use it, so that when they left her on her own she would be able to last. They had pushed her to the limits of those her age should be capable of and then pushed a little more. Eventually, leading to how she is now, with her accomplishments years beyond her age. To anyone else she would have been considered a prodigy, but to her the skills she had learned were meant to keep her alive. From birth her parents had pushed her, "kick harder", "perfect your aim," the 'or you will die' was never said but always hanging in the air. Her childhood was filled with training. She was never given a chance to be herself, because everything was about survival.

Until the day she turned thirteen.

Her parents had left years ago; one night they just disappeared and never came back. Were they dead? Probably. Were they sipping sake in Wind Country? Just as likely.

While she knew that both her parents loved her, she had also seen this turn of events coming. They had never intended to raise a child, so it was all they wanted to continue traveling again. She had put their plans on hold; they could not run across nations with a child who would get them caught. "The life of a missing nin," they used to tell her, "is one full of exhaustion and life. All of the running was tiring, but neither should have been alive. The world thought they were both long dead; keeping their identities a secret was the only thing that allowed them the freedom of having no home nation.

Last week, walking through a town she overheard some old ladies gossiping and found out the day. Since it was close to her birthday, she decided that celebration was in order. The last time she had celebrated it was before her parents left, when time actually possessed meaning.

She knew she had to be in Fire Country, otherwise it would be so hot and there wouldn't be as many trees. She went to eat a proper dinner and then as nightfall approached her full belly made sleep impossible to avoid.

* * *

Uchiha Itachi and his anbu squad were running back from a convert assassination mission in Kiri when the last light touched the earth and it became too dark to run safely. Of the four man squad two had been injured, one with a laceration to his shoulder which had been rapped to help prevent blood loss. And, the other injured had a broken arm that was simply being held in place with his one remaining good arm.

As they stopped in a clearing on the outskirts of Fire Country to rest for a few hours, Itachi went to set up a perimeter. That was when he noticed her; the slight rise and fall of her chest had been picked up by his sharingan. Upon first instinct he drew a kunai, but she did wake to the sounds of his squad mates talking in hushed whisper, or the presence of their chakra signatures. Because of this he deduced she must not be a ninja, or at least not one with any skill, to leave her self so vulnerable would be a fatal mistake. However, her lack of chakra indicated a skilled shinobi, she was on the border, perhaps a ninja on the run. If so, she had been for a long time judging by her clothes.

He simply crouched in front of her, sharingan activated, trying to deduce what anyone would be doing this far from a village only wearing old rags as clothes, and a hip pouch that looked like it could fall off any second.

Apparently, he had stared too long while trying to figure out who she was because Shisui came from the campsite behind him to see what he was doing and called his name.

As his voice carried, speaking slightly louder then one would for casual conversation, he woke the young girl up. Itachi wasn't surprised, the hip pouch indicated she had some sort of ninja ties, but what he noticed after turning his head from a gaping Shisui was something not even the great Uchiha Itachi had expected.

The aggressive stance and kunai glinting in the night were all forgotten as sharingan clashed with sharingan.

Upon looking back at the moment he would realize that she had gasped in surprise the moment their eyes met. But, the moment of pure shock in her eyes gave him the opportunity to pin her against the tree she was previously sleeping on.

Her kunai hit the floor as he searched her face, there was no way she could be an Uchiha. She would have no reason to be dressed as she was or wandering the forest. And, she certainly didn't defect from the clan; those who did were killed off immediately to prevent the sharingan from showing up in another village.

Then she spoke, her voice hoarse as if from years of being unused.

"How?"

The confusion that swam in her eyes was something he could relate to but it was hidden beneath his anbu mask, as well as his stoic façade. The words he said next were harsher than he would have wanted but the nature of the situation was dire, an unknown civilian running abound with the sharingan, he had to know how this had happened, protecting his clan was of the upmost importance.

"Who are you?" Straight and to the point, he even emphasized it by jarring the arm that was holding her in place. It took her a moment to respond, with Shisui walking up by Itachi's side.

"Sakura," it came out smooth, simple, but lacking the information he had wanted, her last name. Did she know she was an Uchiha? When their eyes first met her confusion briefly made him wonder if she had known there were others. It was after a brief silence that Shisui decided he couldn't wait any longer and his voice undoubtedly came out louder then expect, "What's your last name? Where are you from?"

Her eyes flickered to Shisui and then immediately returned to Itachi. She met them with defiance, as if she wasn't out numbered and out armed. Her words so sharp and to the point it was clear that they would be getting no more information, "Just Sakura. From nowhere. Who are you?"

Briefly he thought about pointed out her disadvantage but then he noticed her posture, and the look on her face. It was more curious then the aggressiveness of her words had suggested. So, he released his grip on her, she wouldn't get away from him, she lacked the skill if her initial release of her kunai was anything to go by.

"Itachi" he said, then tilted his head towards the man beside him, "Shisui," his voice monotone and even, betraying none of his curiosity for the girl.

* * *

 _This is going to be my first multi-chapter story and I think it will be long because I want to go into their lives together….So let me know what you think!_

 _I love constructive criticism or just letting me know you like it would be great motivation for me moving forward :)_


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